By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
It’s the time of the week where I say I’m a day late and a few dollars short. Racecars did racecar things over the weekend in the great Buckeye State. I have a few thoughts about said things, and you people are going to hear about them!
Thomas Wins #3 for Dale at Attica: It took a while to get into a good rhythm in the 410 Feature, but once the rhythm was had, it got good. Darin Naida led early over Zeth Sabo and Cale Thomas. Sabo used the second restart of the race to get into the lead over Naida. A couple restarts later, Naida almost got by Sabo for the lead, but another yellow flag would give Sabo another chance. Sabo was able to gap Naida and Thomas as they got to the halfway point of the race. That’s when Naida and Thomas were able to chip into the lead of Sabo. Thomas got by Naida for second a little after the halfway point, and set his sights on Sabo. Thomas caught Sabo as he got into lapped traffic. Thomas threw a slider at Sabo in turns three and four, and took the lead with six laps left, and would cruise from there. It was Thomas’ third win at Attica and fifth of the season in 2024. Sabo and Cap Henry rounded out the top five.
Spithaler Scores Susong Memorial at WCS: The last time Brandon Spithaler was at Wayne County Speedway, June 22nd, he found himself in victory lane at the end of the night. He ended up doing the same thing last Saturday night with the FAST Series. Spithaler rode around in second place most of the race, but when leader Zane DeVault made contact with a lapped car and went into the wall, Spithaler inherited the lead. Spithaler did have Ricky Peterson behind him in second on the restart, but the clean air and clean track was too much to give Spithaler, and he went on to win by four seconds over Peterson and Leyton Wagner.
Wimmer a Winner at Atomic: Goat enthusiast Brandon Wimmer did something only the GOAT’s can do, and that’s beat Cole Duncan at Atomic Speedway. Wimmer took the lead on the start, from the second position, and didn’t look back throughout the 25 lap feature. Ok, maybe he did look back with a guy like Cole Duncan behind you. Wimmer’s lead at the halfway point was 2.7 seconds, but that’s when Duncan started chipping away. With five laps left, the lead was down to .384 seconds. Wimmer was able to withstand the charge and would score his first win in Ohio this year, second overall.
Brubaker Breaks Through at Fremont: Last week I talked about how Stuart Brubaker was having a rough season, and wouldn’t you know it, he went out and won Saturday night at Fremont. Brubaker started on pole of the 30 lap AFCS feature and led each and every lap in the flag-to-flag feature. It didn’t come easy, though. Cap Henry got into second on lap 13, but was 3.654 seconds down to Brubaker. As Brubaker and Henry picked and poked their way through lapped traffic, Brubaker increased his lead to over four seconds with about ten laps left. That’s when Henry turned on the afterburners. In the last five laps, Brubaker’s lead went from 2.644 seconds, to .234 seconds as they took the white flag. Brubaker was able to successfully block Henry in turns three and four to win the drag race to the checkered flag by .196 seconds. It was Brubaker’s first win of the year, and a much needed win at that. I’m now accepting applications for drivers who want me to talk about how they’re struggling.
Quick Hits:
-Darin Naida had a good run at Attica on Friday. He ran second most of the race before slipping to fifth on the last lap. He’s been steadily improving this season. He also said that I’m the smartest person he knows on Friday. I don’t think he knows many people.
-Cole Duncan picked up the win at Skyline Speedway on Sunday in a makeup event. Hard to believe that’s Duncan’s first win in Ohio this season. Kory Crabtree and Wayne McPeek rounded out the podium.
-It was good seeing Larry Kingseed Jr. and Mike Keegan score top five’s at Fremont on Saturday. These two are getting closer to being contenders night in and night out.
-Speaking of Keegan, he scored the GLSS win at Waynesfield Wednesday night as a part of the Jack Hewitt Classic. It was Keegan’s second Hewitt win in a row at the Field.
– He may not have gotten into victory lane this weekend, but a third place and second place run for Cap Henry in AFCS action is what he needed to drag himself back into points battles. He’s now only six points behind Cale Thomas in the OhioDirtTrackStats.com 410 standings.
-Cale Thomas still leads the way in the Attica track points and the AFCS points. At Attica, Thomas leads Cap Henry by 19 points and Zeth Sabo by 34 points. In the AFCS, Thomas leads Henry by 47 points and Sabo by 50 points. Kalib Henry leads the Fremont points over Cap Henry by 21 points, with Thomas 23 markers back.
-Bryan Sebetto and Dustin Stroup won the AFCS 305 races this past weekend at Attica and Fremont. Both of these guys are having good seasons. It was Sebetto’s fourth win of the season, Stroup’s third.
-Miller leads all three points battles in northern Ohio; Attica, Fremont, and the AFCS. It’s not really close in any of them, either. Miller is having a dominant season.
-Ohio is up to 26 different 410 winners in 2024. Cale Thomas and Cap Henry lead the way with five each. There have been 44 Feature events completed in the state so far. There have been 110 different drivers finish in the top ten.